Rodrigue et Chimène

Rodrigue et Chimène (English: Rodrigo and Ximena) is an unfinished opera in three acts by Claude Debussy. The French libretto, by Catulle Mendès, is based on the plays Las Mocedades del Cid by Guillén de Castro y Bellvís and Corneille's Le Cid which deal with the legend of El Cid (Rodrigue in the opera). It was first staged in a version completed by Edison Denisov in Lyon on 14 May 1993. Mendès had begun work on his libretto in 1878, hoping to of... more

Rodrigue et Chimène (English: Rodrigo and Ximena) is an unfinished opera in three acts by Claude Debussy. The French libretto, by Catulle Mendès, is based on the plays Las Mocedades del Cid by Guillén de Castro y Bellvís and Corneille's Le Cid which deal with the legend of El Cid (Rodrigue in the opera). It was first staged in a version completed by Edison Denisov in Lyon on 14 May 1993. Mendès had begun work on his libretto in 1878, hoping to offer it to "one of the leading lights of the French school [of opera]". However, no composer took up the text until April, 1890 when Mendès handed it to the young Debussy. Mendès had predicted that Debussy would become "one of the great composers of the future" and had helped to promote his music. Although he was unimpressed by the literary quality of the drama he had to set, Debussy was encouraged by the prospect that his work would be performed at the Paris Opéra and earn him some money. Over the next two years Debussy's musical style... less